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Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon says the American outfit wants to become “the team that everybody wants to join” as it looks to attract top talent in Formula 1. Lowdon said: "Internally, one of our managers said, and I agree with it, that we want to make this the team that everybody wants to join, everyone's proud to be a part of, and nobody wants to leave. If we can achieve that, then we'll attract the very best people, build the very best team, and hopefully the results will follow."
Formula 2 championship leader and Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov says he has not yet held talks about his future, amid links to a Racing Bulls seat currently occupied by Liam Lawson. Tsolov said: "Nothing yet, unfortunately. But it's still early days. I think we need to get through the summer break. I need to keep doing what I'm doing. I have no doubt that if everything goes the same way, I surely would get an opportunity one day. So for me, that's important. I focus on the current, which is F2."
Liam Lawson says he is in a “good place” after a successful first half of the 2026 season with Racing Bulls. Lawson said: "When you're in a good rhythm and you find things that are working for you, it's obviously a good feeling. And getting in a routine of doing that has been something that, especially during the European part, we've had less travel and spent a bit more time at home. It's been a good opportunity to just focus a little bit more on myself as a driver and as an athlete, so I've just tried to do that."
Audi Formula 1 boss Mattia Binotto says he is “very happy” with Audi’s current driver line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto amid speculation linking Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri to the team. Binotto said: "Carlos is certainly a person whom I know very well, and it's somehow easy and obvious to link him to Audi, but I can only say that I'm very happy with the line-up we have. Instead, I would judge them differently. They are two very fast drivers, and I am happy because they are fast drivers, both of them, so we've got a good line-up."
Oscar Piastri said Formula 1 simulators are a useful part of preparing for a grand prix weekend, after Lewis Hamilton insisted earlier this year that he would not use the simulator because he felt it had “misled” him. Piastri said: "I find it useful. I've also grown up in a different generation to what Lewis would have grown up in. With the current cars, they are very complicated, and I find that having some simulator running is quite useful, both for myself and the team. They're never going to be perfect, and they're never going to be as good as driving the real car."
Stefano Domenicali says a German Grand Prix will “definitely” return to the Formula 1 calendar, describing it as a question of when rather than if, although he stressed it will not be a short-term move. PlanetF1 reports Domenicali has already held an initial discussion about a potential race at Hockenheim, which last hosted F1 in 2019. He pointed to Germany’s changing media market and the presence of major F1 stakeholders based in the country, including Audi and Mercedes, as key factors behind the renewed push.
The FIA wants a much bigger reduction in Formula 1 car weight in the next regulation cycle, with single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis saying his target is for cars to be “another 80 kilos lighter” and “still a bit shorter and a bit smaller”. He stressed that is not possible within the current rules cycle, but is the aim for the regulations due in 2031, or 2030 “if there is sufficient support”.
Red Bull has identified Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough as its preferred successor to Gianpiero Lambiase, according to BILD. Red Bull confirmed earlier this year that Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s long-time race engineer and head of race engineering since 2022, is leaving for McLaren. BILD reports McCullough is set to take over Lambiase’s role, but says a start date has not yet been decided.
Rafael Camara says he is blocking out rumours linking him to a 2027 Haas Formula 1 seat to focus on his Formula 2 title fight with Invicta Racing. Camara said: "It's good to see. You don't really know at the moment, but it's nice to have this, and to see that the dream is close. But at the same time, you don't want to get too much into that because I'm still in a very important championship, and if you do well, most likely you're going to get a chance. So, on my side, I'm just really focusing on this year."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the team realised early in the 2026 season it had paid a “heavy price” for the effort of winning both world titles in 2025, but that unity helped it respond to a tough start under the new rules. Stella said: "After three years of steady progress that saw us win three out of four world titles between 2024 and 2025, the start of this season has been a real reset: not only because the rule changes were probably the most significant ever in the history of this sport, but above all because we realised just how heavy a price we had paid for the effort we put in during 2025 to secure the world double. We could have fallen apart; we could have found excuses."
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad says he has no plans to move to Monaco because he feels uncomfortable about what the principality represents, given his family’s history of hardship. Lindblad said: "I know many people who live there tell me that, in the end, it's actually a fairly normal life. But in my mind, I still struggle with the idea of living in a place that represents the ultimate symbol of wealth. When I think about my father struggling just to have three meals a day when he was young and my grandparents losing everything, it feels almost wrong to me. It's a personal feeling."
Mercedes driver development advisor Gwen Lagrue has posted a farewell message after ending an 11-season spell with the team, confirming the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest was his final race weekend at Brackley. RacingNews365 reported last month that Lagrue is set to join Red Bull, with Mercedes making his departure official last week, before he was named director of the Red Bull Junior Programme from 2027. In his message, Lagrue wrote: “People often remember the championships, the victories and the records. I will personally remember the people.”
Aston Martin has agreed a £550m financing package that involves selling majority control of the Aston Martin brand for non-automotive businesses, transferring 50.1% of related intellectual property rights to US brand management group Authentic Brands. The package is led by HPS Investment Partners and includes a £450m secured term loan plus a £100m facility that can be drawn later. The company said the deal does not affect the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, which operates separately.
Max Verstappen says he signed 15-year-old Belgian driver Dries van Langendonck to Verstappen Racing because he believes the British Formula 4 racer has the potential to reach Formula 1, but wants to avoid putting pressure on him. Verstappen said: "Scouting? Yeah. I watch a lot of racing myself. So, yeah, and then, of course, I have my dad and my manager, Raymond. I have people everywhere, so if I need information, I can ask them as well. But at the end of the day, I need to feel that it's someone I think is capable of doing it. At the same time, I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's 15 years old."
Max Verstappen says he never doubted Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli would make a big step forward in his second Formula 1 season and become consistently competitive, as the 19-year-old leads the championship after taking six wins so far this year. Verstappen said: "Of course, when you're driving for a top team, it's always highlighted a little bit more. But for me, there was never a doubt that he would make a jump the year after and already be a lot more consistently competitive. It's normal in the progression of a driver. In your rookie season it can be quite tough, but at the moment, of course, he's doing an amazing job."
Charles Leclerc says his relationship with Max Verstappen has changed over the years, admitting he once thought the Red Bull driver was a “bad person”. Leclerc said: "Our relationship has matured over the years; I was convinced he was a bad person and he thought the same of me. But now our relationship has changed."
Lewis Hamilton says he rates his 2026 season so far as "slightly above average" and is not getting drawn into talk of a title battle. Hamilton said: "I'm not thinking about the second part [of the season]. I'm thinking about just this weekend, one race at a time. I'm just trying to figure out how I can maximise each weekend. I'm genuinely not thinking about [future] races from here."
Flavio Briatore says he does not know why Alpine are not beating McLaren or Ferrari, insisting the team has “everything” it needs to win grands prix. Flavio Briatore said: "We have everything to win, because, you know, the agreement we've done with Mercedes is a super agreement, because we picked up the right partner. And we're investing in CapEx a lot of money in the factory. We need to put the pieces together... take more risk than what we take now. But I'm sure this team… I don't know why we're not winning. I don't know why we don't beat McLaren. I don't know why we don't beat Ferrari."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have become even closer as team-mates despite fighting each other for last season’s world title until the final race. Stella said: "It wasn't a given that, after last year -- when they found themselves battling for the world title right up to the final race -- the harmony they'd built would remain intact: yet not only has this not changed, but the relationship between them and with the team has actually become even stronger."
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